New York:
Seventy-two of the 99 journalists killed in 2023 were killed in the war between Israel and Hamas, making the past 12 months the deadliest for the media in almost a decade, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Thursday.
The number of killings of reporters globally would have fallen year over year if not for the deaths in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon, CPJ said, although fatalities remained stable in Somalia and the Philippines.
The number of deaths is the highest since 2015 and an increase of almost 44 percent over 2022 figures.
“In December 2023, CPJ reported that more journalists were killed in the first three months of the Israel-Gaza war than have ever been killed in a single country in an entire year,” CPJ said.
The 72 journalists killed in the conflict between Israel and Hamas include three Lebanese and two Israeli victims, the organization said.
“Journalists in Gaza are testifying on the front lines,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg.
“The immense loss suffered by Palestinian journalists in this war will have long-term consequences for journalism not only in the Palestinian territories, but also for the region and beyond. Every murdered journalist is another blow to our understanding of the world.”
On February 7, the New York-based Press Freedom Organization said the number of journalists killed in the Gaza conflict had risen to 85.
CPJ has previously attacked the so-called “persecution” of journalists by Israeli forces and is investigating whether a dozen journalists killed in the Gaza conflict were deliberately targeted by Israeli soldiers, which would constitute a “war crime.”
Israel vowed to crush Hamas in response to the Islamist group's attack on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
Agents also took about 250 people hostage in the country's deadliest attack ever. About 130 of them are believed to remain in Gaza, including 29 who are presumed dead.
At least 28,576 people, mostly women and children, have been killed during Israel's retaliatory military offensive on Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-administered Palestinian territory.
The biggest drops in journalist fatalities were recorded in Ukraine and Mexico, where both murders went from thirteen to two.
One of those killed in Ukraine was AFP journalist Arman Soldin. Soldin, 32, died when his reporting team came under fire near the eastern city of Bakhmut.
The CPJ warned that Mexico, along with the Philippines and Somalia, is “one of the deadliest countries in the world for the press.”
“Aggravating the situation, government agencies are spying on reporters and rights defenders, and a significant number of journalists have had to leave their homes and abandon their professions due to violence,” the CPJ report warned.
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